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North Ossetia (Russian: Северная Осетия; Ossetian: Цæгат Ирыстон), officially the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. Its population according to the 2021 Census was 687,357. The republic's capital city is the city of Vladikavkaz, located on the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. Forming 65.1% of the republic's population as of 2010, the Ossetians are an Iranian ethnic group native to the republic and neighboring South Ossetia. Ossetian is an east Iranian language descended from the medieval Alanic and ancient Sarmatian languages. Unlike many groups in the North Caucasus, Ossetians are predominantly Christians. However, almost 30% of the population adheres to Ossetian ethnic religion, generally called Uatsdin (Уацдин, "True Faith"), and a sizable Muslim minority exists. Ethnic Russians and Ingush, who form a majority in neighboring Ingushetia, form substantial minorities in the republic. The Ossetia region traces its history back to the ancient Alans, who founded the Kingdom of Alania in the 8th century and adopted Christianity in the 9th century. The kingdom would fall to the Mongols in the 13th century, and by the 17th century would be under the nominal rule of Safavid Iran. From 1774 to 1806, Ossetia was slowly incorporated into the Russian Empire, which would split the region into a northern part included in the Terek Oblast, and a southern one included in the Tiflis and Kutaisi governorates. This partition would persist in the Soviet period, where North Ossetia was made into the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Russian SFSR, while South Ossetia became an autonomous oblast within the Georgian SSR. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the republic experienced internal conflict like in much of the North Caucasus. In 1992, a brief ethnic war between Ossetians and the predominantly Muslim Ingush population in the Prigorodny District took place. The republic has experienced spillover from the Chechen conflict, most notably in the form of the 2004 Beslan school siege. Proposals for Russia to annex South Ossetia in order to incorporate the two as one entity exist to this day. Ossetian cuisine is distinguished as an integral aspect of Ossetian culture. Ossetian-style pies such as Fydzhin (a meat pie) are a quintessential component of Ossetian cuisine. The "three pies" concept holds special symbolic significance, and representing the Sun, Earth, and water.
